We NEED a bailout!
Dateline Wednesday, November 26, 2008. The Federal Government announced today a massive bailout of the banking giant First Applegate Savings Trust (FAST). Pending regulator and lobbyist approval, the Federal Reserve Bank will pump approximately $25 Billion Dollars into the struggling financial entity in hopes of averting a disastrous failure.
Flashback to Monday, November 24th… FAST CEO Mark Applegate, in an attempt to cinch up Federal funds for his institution, arranges to fly the entire Congress with families and staff to the Swiss Alps for a skiing and shopping junket. No expense is spared in this trip. While the $10 Billion price tag may seem steep, it seemed a necessary expense to secure funding to insure liquidity for the next month.
Flashback to the First Century…the Apostle Paul states in Colossians 2:13-5 (ESV) “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made a live together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”
America, and indeed the world as a whole, is in a tremendously perilous debt situation. We are powerless to rectify the damage done by the recklessness of generations of unconcerned debtors. Amazingly, we flaunt our debt, pretending that it is not a big deal and that it will be paid at some distant period of time. We assume that as long as our laboring is sufficient to fulfill the minimum obligation of the debt, the big picture really doesn’t matter. On a personal level, we assume that as long as we can pay our minimum payment on time, we are fine.
The answer? More government cash? Barack Obama to the rescue?? Not for this problem. See, this ominous problem is much bigger than money. The problem is our sin debt. Romans 6:23 (ESV) says “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Who sins? Romans 1-2 spend paragraph after paragraph thoroughly explaining that we are all hopeless debtors concluding with Romans 3:23 (ESV) saying “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We are drowning in debt, and there will be a day that it will all come due.
Don’t believe me? Read Exodus 20. God lays out the Ten Commandments, the summary of God’s Moral Law, in clear detail. I have spent the last half a year writing about these Commandments and stating the obvious that I, like you, have broken them all in word or deed. Just like CEOs who don’t seem to take debt seriously, we don’t weep over sin if we acknowledge it at all. Take blasphemy for example (the breaking of the Third Commandment). As chronicled on previous columns, how many times a day do we hear blatant blasphemy? Oh My Gxx is as
common as any other phrase these days. Even when we change the words to make them less egregious, we replace them often with an attribute of God. (Oh my goodness, good gracious, and the like. The amazing part of this is that we replace God’s Holy Name with a dirty word. The offense is directly to him. He is the intended target. Even if we don’t want to offend, we do. We are hopeless to pay the debt for the bill we have racked up.
The solution is to find someone to pay our debt. Indeed, we desperately need a bailout, and the government is part of the problem, not the solution, in this realm. The good things we do as a response to God’s Goodness can’t save us. God, Himself, is the only one that can save us. The Good News of the Bible is that 2000 years ago Jesus Christ took the punishment on the cross for our sins when we repent and trust Him. He had the debt record nailed to the cross with Him of all who turn from their sin and let Him be Lord. What an amazing and loving act done by one that we have done little more than blaspheme in our society.
Thanksgiving is upon us again. Spend the holiday with me thanking Jesus for dying for our sins. Does it seem clichéd? At times, even as a Christian, it seems that I don’t “esteem the sacrifice” He made on my behalf. I, like you, need to spend more time praising Him this season than racking up debt then trying to repay Him (as if that is possible anyway). Doing good things for others in His name are the logical response to such an amazing God. It should be done as an act of worship, not as an attempt to bribe Him for forgiveness. Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV) says “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” What an amazing substitute debt payer we serve!
Verses for the week: James 1:26-7; 2:14-26 Ephesians 2:8-9. Does your Faith produce works? If it isn’t the type that does, it isn’t the type that saves either. These aren’t conflicting verses, they are clarifying verses. How does your faith reveal itself through your life? If there is no difference, or if you do what you do for the wrong reason, you are likely as well off flying God to the Alps He created at judgment. He will not be bribed!
Dateline Wednesday, November 26, 2008. The Federal Government announced today a massive bailout of the banking giant First Applegate Savings Trust (FAST). Pending regulator and lobbyist approval, the Federal Reserve Bank will pump approximately $25 Billion Dollars into the struggling financial entity in hopes of averting a disastrous failure.
Flashback to Monday, November 24th… FAST CEO Mark Applegate, in an attempt to cinch up Federal funds for his institution, arranges to fly the entire Congress with families and staff to the Swiss Alps for a skiing and shopping junket. No expense is spared in this trip. While the $10 Billion price tag may seem steep, it seemed a necessary expense to secure funding to insure liquidity for the next month.
Flashback to the First Century…the Apostle Paul states in Colossians 2:13-5 (ESV) “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made a live together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”
America, and indeed the world as a whole, is in a tremendously perilous debt situation. We are powerless to rectify the damage done by the recklessness of generations of unconcerned debtors. Amazingly, we flaunt our debt, pretending that it is not a big deal and that it will be paid at some distant period of time. We assume that as long as our laboring is sufficient to fulfill the minimum obligation of the debt, the big picture really doesn’t matter. On a personal level, we assume that as long as we can pay our minimum payment on time, we are fine.
The answer? More government cash? Barack Obama to the rescue?? Not for this problem. See, this ominous problem is much bigger than money. The problem is our sin debt. Romans 6:23 (ESV) says “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Who sins? Romans 1-2 spend paragraph after paragraph thoroughly explaining that we are all hopeless debtors concluding with Romans 3:23 (ESV) saying “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We are drowning in debt, and there will be a day that it will all come due.Don’t believe me? Read Exodus 20. God lays out the Ten Commandments, the summary of God’s Moral Law, in clear detail. I have spent the last half a year writing about these Commandments and stating the obvious that I, like you, have broken them all in word or deed. Just like CEOs who don’t seem to take debt seriously, we don’t weep over sin if we acknowledge it at all. Take blasphemy for example (the breaking of the Third Commandment). As chronicled on previous columns, how many times a day do we hear blatant blasphemy? Oh My Gxx is as
common as any other phrase these days. Even when we change the words to make them less egregious, we replace them often with an attribute of God. (Oh my goodness, good gracious, and the like. The amazing part of this is that we replace God’s Holy Name with a dirty word. The offense is directly to him. He is the intended target. Even if we don’t want to offend, we do. We are hopeless to pay the debt for the bill we have racked up.The solution is to find someone to pay our debt. Indeed, we desperately need a bailout, and the government is part of the problem, not the solution, in this realm. The good things we do as a response to God’s Goodness can’t save us. God, Himself, is the only one that can save us. The Good News of the Bible is that 2000 years ago Jesus Christ took the punishment on the cross for our sins when we repent and trust Him. He had the debt record nailed to the cross with Him of all who turn from their sin and let Him be Lord. What an amazing and loving act done by one that we have done little more than blaspheme in our society.
Thanksgiving is upon us again. Spend the holiday with me thanking Jesus for dying for our sins. Does it seem clichéd? At times, even as a Christian, it seems that I don’t “esteem the sacrifice” He made on my behalf. I, like you, need to spend more time praising Him this season than racking up debt then trying to repay Him (as if that is possible anyway). Doing good things for others in His name are the logical response to such an amazing God. It should be done as an act of worship, not as an attempt to bribe Him for forgiveness. Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV) says “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” What an amazing substitute debt payer we serve!
Verses for the week: James 1:26-7; 2:14-26 Ephesians 2:8-9. Does your Faith produce works? If it isn’t the type that does, it isn’t the type that saves either. These aren’t conflicting verses, they are clarifying verses. How does your faith reveal itself through your life? If there is no difference, or if you do what you do for the wrong reason, you are likely as well off flying God to the Alps He created at judgment. He will not be bribed!
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